Qualifying for the 2017 FIVB World Championships via the European Continental Cup process, Makroguzova will be playing in her first worlds and Birlova her fourth after placing 17th, ninth and ninth in the last three editions with Evgeniya Ukolova. Makroguzova started playing in FIVB events in 2013 when she placed second at the under-19 world championships in Portugal with Anna Gorbunova. Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina were also second on the 2016 under-21 worlds in Switzerland. Makroguzova's best World Tour finishes have been ninths. Birlova started playing with Makroguzova at the 2016 FIVB Continental Cup in Sochi in helping Russia to earn a spot in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Birlova reunited with Evgeniya Ukolova for the Copacabana Games where the pair placed fifth after being eliminated by silver medal winners Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas of Brazil. Birlova’s FIVB career began in 2008 as she and Ukolova won two World Tour gold medals in 2012 (Klagenfurt, Austria) and 2013 (Anapa, Russia). Birlova and Ukolova placed ninth in the London 2016 Olympic Games.